


i walk beside the still waters

by combustible



Series: i know what you're feeling ('cause i feel it as well) - osaaka week 2020 [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE LAST OF US 1 AND 2, No angst at all, The Cactus in a Yellow Pot is Back and it has a name now, This Kind of Domesticity Might Not Meet Your Approval, Well it meets mine, this is very self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26484982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/combustible/pseuds/combustible
Summary: To : Akaashi (Fukurodani)The game is downloading! (it’s Osamu)From : Akaashi (Fukurodani)Have fun, Miya-San.domesticity for osaaka comes in the form of playing the same video games. or osamu playsthe last of usparts i and ii.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Miya Osamu
Series: i know what you're feeling ('cause i feel it as well) - osaaka week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921114
Comments: 11
Kudos: 51
Collections: Osaaka Week 2020





	i walk beside the still waters

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
> 
> i'm posting this for day four of osaaka week - domesticity.
> 
> it's not really super domestic in the way one might think. this idea came from both the fact that klaudia, who introduced me to osaaka, was the first recipient of all my the last of (ii) reactions + i am playing the last of us (i) again with friends. 
> 
> for me, personally, domesticity comes in the form of playing video games together, or not, but sharing views on them. it also means being together physically or not and still enjoying the same things because we share the same interests. it's making fun of each other for small things and just being together without kissing in the kitchen and slow dancing in the bathroom bc i sure as hell dont do that often enough for that to be my kind of 'domesticity'.  
> of course, this fic is full of SPOILERS for both the last of us i and ii. BEWARE!
> 
> also, im not super sure you will understand this if you haven't played the game. i guess you can still grasp what's happening, though. the only thing you should know is that between the 1st and the 2nd part, 7 years have passed. many of us went from being a teen to being an adult between the two parts. many of us have played to the first part at least 3 times before the 2nd part was even announced. so, yeah.
> 
> anyway,
> 
> tw : mention of violence inherent to the game but it's not graphic i think? tell me if you think it was triggering though.

_If I ever were to lose you_  
_I'd surely lose myself_  
_Everything I have found, dear_  
_I've not found by myself_

  
Osamu enters the empty game shop, eyes bored as he takes in the flashy blue advertising panels. He’s always disliked the city, Tokyo especially. It’s noisy, stressful. It’s like everyone around you is either one step away from burning out, or is so burnt out already that they don’t even know it. There are not angels with immaculate wings in this city anymore, only wingless pigeons.

Unfortunately, he knows he’ll have to stay in this hell hole for at least three hours. Because he’s an actual angel who accepted to be there for his brother. Atsumu usually takes two hours to decide if the team is worth applying for or not, so Osamu knows he still has a lot time ahead of him. He sighs.

He walks in, pushing the door open, not really knowing what he’s looking for. 

He’s got three long hours to kill. 

This is going to be long. But he’s a good brother, and when Atsumu had asked him to go with him to Tokyo to make sure he won’t get lost in the metro, Osamu had said yes. Give him a fucking medal, please.

Walking down the aisles, realising there are indeed a lot of games that exist outside of the rogue-like ones he usually likes and the fighting games he knows because of Atsumu, he ends up bumping into someone. His head shots up and grey meets surprised blue, hidden behind framed glasses..

“Miya,” the Fukurodani setter whispers with a slight nod.

Osamu mirrors his gesture. All in all, maybe it won’t be that hard to enjoy the next few hours. He smirks and eyes the small name tag on Akaashi’s uniform. So, the Fukurodani setter works here. 

“Akaashi.”

“What are you doing in Tokyo?”

They’ve only met a few months ago, during nationals, when Inarizaki won over Fukurodani in three sets, and so it’s not _that_ surprising that he remembers his face, his name, and where he comes from. Especially since he’s one of the main reasons why his team didn’t win the semi-finals. And yet, his eyebrows still shoot up under his grey bangs when he hears the question.

“I’m here with ‘Tsumu. He’s trying to find a volleyball team that he likes.”

Of course that idiot would have the privilege to actually _choose_ what team he would play for, rather than having to beg for a job. The perks of being high school circuit’s best setter.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So, do you need help choosing a game?”

Osamu stops to think for a moment, humming to himself. He wasn’t supposed to buy anything, he was only supposed to look at what he could buy for Atsumu for their birthday, or maybe just stare at the shelves and ponder if he should buy _Cooking Mama II_ or not. 

He wasn’t supposed to buy whatever game an employee would try to shove in his hands. But somehow, he trusts that guy. He’s seen him play volleyball. This usually tells a lot about who you are. And Akaashi Keiji is not someone who would manipulate him into buying a shitty game.

“Okay.”

“What console do you have?”

“A PS/3.”

“Nice,” Akaashi nods politely with a small smile. Osamu doesn’t know yet, but Akaashi is more of a NlNTEND0 guy. S0NY is a good enough choice, although not the most common.

Osamu shrugs. He’s not a real gamer, definitely not. He’d rather describe himself as Atsumu’s biggest rival, but he only rarely plays for himself. Only a few hours a month, here and there.

“Uhm- I usually play with ‘Tsumu,” he admits, “but since he won’t live with me for much longer I don’t really know what I’m looking for.”

“So, you’re not used to playing solo games?”

“Not really.”

Akaashi’s eyes lighten up, like he’s having a revelation on the spot. He nods. _I see_. He whispers, and Osamu shivers. He’s seen this serious expression from up close, across the net, when they were playing against each other, but he never thought he would get to witness it ever again. 

“Well if you want to start playing for yourself, I have the perfect game for you.”

He tilts his head. It shouldn’t be that easy for Akaashi to come back with a game in his hand. He doesn’t know him, doesn’t know what he likes except for volleyball. And volleyball isn’t a game you can play alone. 

“It’s a new release. I finished it a week ago. It’s really good.”

Osamu’s eyes fall on the dark cover of the game. _The Last of Us._ Never heard of it, he thinks. But once again, he’s not the one who keeps up with this stuff. He usually spends more time in his room with his own drums. Well, actually, it’s Atsumu’s drums, but since the idiot ended up saying he'd rather play the _oboe_ , Osamu decided it would be his. So, yeah, Osamu usually spends his free time practicing alone in his room, leaving Atsumu to play alone with whatever dating simulation game he was pouring his heart and soul into at that moment. 

But he wouldn’t be against trying new things.

It shouldn’t be that simple for Akaashi to recommend a game to someone he doesn’t really know. But Osamu trusts him, somehow, because he’s seen the way other players were following him, like Inarizaki used to follow Kita and Aran (it was different with Atsumu, though)

When Akaashi hands him the game after he has paid, and gives him a folded receipt with a mischievous smile, Osamu knows he probably will end up liking this game just because of who made him buy it. 

He’s not sure if he has read that smile right, but it looks familiar, like the smile Atsumu puts on when he’s looking at Kageyama Tobio (god, just thinking about it is embarrassing). His heart is beating hard and fast in his chest when he leaves the store. He waits until he’s back in the street, a few meters away, to unfold the paper receipt that he scrunching in his sweaty hand. 

_Here’s my number, I’d like to hear your opinion on the game. Have fun._

He smiles. 

He still has two hours and thirty minutes to kill. Fuck. 

.

> **To** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _The game is downloading! (it’s Osamu)_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _Have fun, Miya-San._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _Thank you!!_

He takes the game controller from the coffee table and lets himself fall back against the cushions of the couch. He smiles watching the little girl on the screen bicker with her father. It reminds him of his own dad. 

He makes her walk through the house, looking at everything he can as the tension starts building. His heart starts racing in his chest. The living room window on the screen explodes and the little girl’s dad shoots their neighbour right in the head in a cinematic.. 

_Holy shit._

He keeps his eyes glued on the screen, Akaashi completely gone from his mind at the same time as Tommy, the little girl’s uncle, arrives in his car to flee the infected city. He only started ten minutes ago and he can already feel it all. 

Panic in the streets.

Chaos.

Hopelessness. 

He’s already jumpy as he makes Joel, the dad, run after Tommy in the burning streets. He witnesses society crumble before his eyes, houses crumbling down as people start to go mad around his character.

It’s a mess.

It’s realistic.

Okay, he likes this.

“Don’t die, bro,” he mumbles to Tommy. 

He doesn’t die. 

No, Tommy doesn’t die. 

But you know who does?

The little girl. 

She gets shot. She cries, her weak little hiccups breaking his heart in a thousand pieces. This scene will probably haunt him for days. 

Fucking soldier. 

The screen goes black and all he can do is stare at the black screen for a second, before another cinematic starts. 

He presses the button to go back to the PS/3 menu and takes his phone from his pocket.

> **To** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _Bro_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _What the hell._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _Children aren’t supposed to die._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi (Fukurodani)
> 
> _Have fun!_

Osamu slams his phone back next to him on the couch and goes back to the game. 

“Okay. Let’s go,” he whispers, and starts following that _Tess_ girl.

.

When Atsumu comes back from Osaka, he finds his brother glued to _his_ PS/3, silently screaming because of some kind of big ass zombie with lumps all over its body. He looks tense, his eyes don’t move to look at him and his fingers are tensed around the controller.

Why isn’t he playing with his drums?

“What’s this?” Atsumu asks innocently, not knowing if _this_ is the whole situation or the thing that Osamu is currently trying to kill on the screen.

“A bloater.”

“A bloater?”

“A bloater.”

He looks at his twin with disbelief. He’s throwing a brick on the pink swollen creature that’s launching itself at his character and _fuck_ this looks intense.

“It’s a zombie that has been bitten super long ago, so it turned into something more terrible than a regular zombie.”

“Since when do you play zombie games?”

“Fuck- The brick has failed me,” he mumbles when his character, Joel apparently, violently dies on the screen. He doesn’t look very surprised by it. Means he probably was trying to beat the guy for a few hours. “A friend recommended it to me.”

“A friend,” Atsumu blurts out. _You don’t have friends_ , his tone says, and Osamu doesn’t even stick his tongue out, too busy throwing a molotov cocktail at the _bloater_.

“Yeah.”

“You have a friend. Who plays video games.”

“What? You don’t think I have friends you don’t know?”

“I know you don’t.”

“I- FUCK YES.” Osamu rises on his feet as the creature on the screen turns black, screeching in agony and _finally_ dies on the floor. “FUCK YOU BLOATER.”

Atsumu comes to stand in front of the television, his arms crossed on his chest, and Osamu can only hit the _pause_ button before he looks at his brother.

“What?”

“You have a friend who made you buy _a video game._ ”

He stares down at his phone where the notification light is blinking, green and bright. He doesn’t have many friends who text him without a good reason. It’s not that he doesn’t have friends, he does. They just don’t text him the same way they text Atsumu. 

There is only one who texts him daily.

“It’s the setter from Fukurodani.”

“That Akaashi guy?”

“Yeah, him.”

“How- When? What the fuck.”

“We met at the game store when you were visiting F.C. Tokyo, and he recommended it to me.”

“Nice. Let me see you fail.”

Atsumu jumps next to him on the couch, making the phone bounce, and watches him walk through the city of Pittsburgh with a side grin. 

.

> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Oh my god._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _You finished?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Yeah._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Holy shit_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Holy mother fucking shit_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _So? How did you like it?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _It was- woah_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Thank you so much for making me play this_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _You’re welcome, Osamu._

_._

> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _If it were you, what option would you have chosen?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Between sacrificing Ellie to get a cure for humanity or saving her and let humanity die?_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _Yeah._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _I think if I were in Joel’s shoes, I would have saved her._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _That’s fair._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Plus, I think it’s stupid to kill the only immune person if you’re not sure the cure will actually work._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _I mean, start with just her blood before killing her._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _Yeah, I thought about this too. But in the end, the question remains the same. If after months of experiments, you finally found out the only way to get a cure is by taking parts of her brain? Meaning you have to let the little girl you see as your daughter die. Would you do it?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _I guess I would have tried to save her anyway, yeah._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _What about you?_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _I wish I had the strength to let her die. But I know I would do anything in my power to save her too._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _It’s a weak and selfish mindset._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Nah, it only shows you’re human._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _I hope we will never have to find out._
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _I don’t think I would survive one day in this apocalypse._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _Sometimes, the stronger people in this kind of situation are not the ones we think._

Osamu stares at his phone for a moment and smiles. He never expected Akaashi to start talking to him in a more _personal_ way. 

> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Do you have other games to recommend?_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _I do, it’s my job._

Osamu smiles even harder at his phone, thinking about all the new excuses he’ll get to keep texting Akaashi thanks to that game when a pillow hits the side of his head. 

“What are you smiling at, shithead?”

“Nothing.”

 _Pathetic,_ Atsumu thinks as he rolls his eyes.

“You’re smiling at your phone.”

“Yeah I just saw a picture of you. You’re so ugly it made me laugh.”

“If you’re looking at pictures of me with _this look_ , I’m worried.”

“Shut up.”

Osamu throws the pillow back at his brother, but he just can’t prevent Atsumu from jumping at him, he can’t stop him from stealing his phone in one swift movement. Setter’s hands, right?

“It’s still _Akaashi_?”

“He’s going to recommend a new game to me now that I’m done with _The Last Of Us_ , that’s all, don’t be an idiot”

“I see.”

Osamu eyes him and when Atsumu stares back, he tries to take his phone back, but his brother is quicker. _Idiot._

“Give me my phone.”

“No.”

“Are you going to Tokyo anytime soon?” Osamu asks as he starts climbing Atsumu’s body to reach his phone that he is now keeping out of his reach.

“Actually-” Atsumu starts and Osamu stops his movements, looking at him with so much hope in his eyes, his brother wants to actively punch him. _Pathetic._ “Don’t look at me like that, you look even uglier than usual with these glossy eyes.”

“When are you going” Osamu ignores him.

“Next week, on Thursday. I have a meeting there.”

“Can I come with you?”

“You can go alone.”

“I need an excuse.”

“You can just _go there_ and go meet with your lover boy.”

“He’s not my-”

Atsumu looks at him, looks at him. He looks at him and fuck, he knows that look. 

He looks at him. 

The twins stare at each other and Osamu launches himself at his brother one last time, but Atsumu laughs and he knows he’s going to win as he shoves the phone in his pants, near his dick.

“Oh my god, you’re fucking gross.”

“‘m not.”

They look at each other, until they don’t anymore, and Atsumu’s eyes go back on his brother’s phone that he pulls back from his pants. He unlocks it (because of course he figured out his password ages ago and Osamu is too lazy to change it) and Osamu isn’t fast enough to take the device back from his piggy hands before Atsumu gives it back to him with a smirk.

> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Atsumu is going to Tokyo for work on Thursday, you want to meet?_

“You’ll thank me later.”

“I’m gonna kill you.”

.

He ends up going anyway. 

Turns out Akaashi is only working at the game store on weekends, so he’s free during the week as long as he doesn’t have classes. He’s sitting at a small table in the corner of a small coffee shop when Osamu enters. His smile definitely meets his eyes this time.

“Hello,” Akaashi mouths him.

“Hi,” Osamu whispers back, but he knows he won’t hear him from across the room.

Osamu waves at his friend, before he stops in front of the counter to order his coffee. He only then turns his head towards the barista who’s grinning at him like a bee at a pile of sugar. If bees could grin, of course. Maybe they could, for all he knows.

“So. You know Akaashi.”

The barista, _Konoha_ apparently, from the name tag, looks at him with shining eyes and a side smirk that reminds him of Atsumu’s. 

_Lord please, give him a break._

“I do.”

“Interesting.”

He’s a mouse, and Konoha is a panther. 

“Stop it, Aki,” Akaashi’s smooth voice rises from behind his back before he can feel him standing to stand next to him. 

“But you’re always sitting here alone! I was starting to get worried. Let your friend be happy for you.”

“I have friends. I just don’t bring them here.”

“Until now.”

Osamu can feel there’s _something_ going on between the two men. Friendship? Rivalry? Hate? He’s too busy registering the fact that Akaashi never brings friends to this coffee shop, yet he brought _him_. It’s both a blessing and a sad information. Doesn’t he have friends? Is he single? Why are these two questions linked?

“Make me another latte,” he simply says, before going back to his seat, giving Konoha _that look_ that reminds him of Kita.

“What about you?”

“An americano, please.”

He watches the man move behind the counter, and finds out that _maybe_ he wants to talk about other things than games with Akaashi. 

Osamu bites his lower lip. He’s _definitely_ interested in becoming friends with him, but if Akaashi is too, he doesn’t know.

“He’s single.” Konoha informs him with a big smile that screams chaos, as he hands him his cup of coffee.

“Thank you very much.” Osamu smiles back.

He sits next to Akaashi, his eyes falling on the doodled cactus on the paper napkin. 

“You’re talented,” he notes.

“I’ve been drawing this cactus for six months now, I could draw it with my eyes closed,” Akaashi laughs.

.

“What if it were me? Would you let me sacrifice myself to save humanity?” Osamu asks one time, as he stares at the cactus in its yellow pot on the table. It that now has a name they chose together: _Joel._

“No, I wouldn’t.”

.

> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _I’ve finished the game for the second time. I still love it so much._

And he does. He does. So. So. Much. 

He was expecting zombies, and blood, and just gunshots and violence. A boring story with only one purpose: survival. 

Well, joke’s on him because he got tears and feelings on top of all of this. 

> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _Did you still cry at the end of the introduction?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _No,_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _Liar._

He is, indeed, a liar.

.

> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _Tsumu’s playing tlou!!_
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _So?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _He’s crying atm._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _The introduction?_
> 
> **To** : Akaashi
> 
> _No, Joel just told Ellie he wasn’t his dad._
> 
> **From** : Akaashi
> 
> _Ouch._

.

The third time he goes through _The Last of Us_ , Akaashi is sitting next to him, a beer in one hand, popcorn in the other, and they both sniff pathetically as Joel’s daughter cries in agony on the TV screen.

“I can’t believe I still cry watching this.”

They hang out together _as friends_ , he tells Atsumu through the phone and the idiot has the guts to _cackle_.

.

He’s got the thirty fireflies pendants, the fourteen comic books, all shiv doors are opened and he’s been playing the same game for more than a month, when it happens. Akaashi has been coming to visit him every now and then so he can _see him suffer_ , he says. 

And it finally happens.

It’s a Friday night and Osamu is finally going to unlock the platinum trophy for the _Last of Us_. 

He’s not going to admit that he hasn’t touched the game for a few days just to wait for Akaashi. He knocks at his door with a bag of popcorn and a pack of beers, ready to watch his friend try to find _that last artifact_ and fail because he doesn’t want to look at the online guides. 

Osamu doesn’t tell him that he has figured out where it is. He doesn’t tell him that he wanted him to be there to watch him finally unlock the trophy. He plays for a few hours, faking getting lost before he finally _finds_ it.

When the small panel appears at the top left of the screen, he can’t hold back a yell.

He knew it would come.

It still feels fucking great.

He actually feels like he could cry of happiness and Akaashi starts laughing hysterically next to him before starting to shout with him.

That day, Akaashi kisses him for the first time.

.

_2020_

.

> **From** : Keiji
> 
> _You’re ready?_
> 
> **To** : Keiji
> 
> _Yeah!!!_
> 
> **From** : Keiji
> 
> _See you in a few days._
> 
> **To** : Keiji
> 
> _Love you_
> 
> **To** : Keiji
> 
> _Love you too_

He puts his phone face down and looks at the screen as if he was defying it. Atsumu is sitting next to him while the game finishes downloading. He has a free weekend today and had harassed Osamu for weeks until his brother finally agreed to let him come to watch him play _The Last Of Us II._

The most awaited game in the Miya family. 

Even Izumi, their older sister, had asked Osamu to send her a quick summary of the game once he’d be done.

“You’re ready?”

“I’m not sure,” Osamu whispers.

And he’s trembling. His hands are sweaty on the controller and Atsumu sneers.

He starts the game, his heart threatening to fly from his chest as he watches Joel and his guitar. 

“Oh Joel, how I’ve missed you, buddy,” Osamu says with a small smile, and he’s almost crying as he watches the cinematic unfold in front of his eyes.

.

“Osamu.”

He cannot tell from Atsumu’s face because he’s too busy staring at the wall, but his brother has never been _this worried_ about his twin’s mental state (and they’ve lost a match during nationals, during the finals, against fucking _Itachiyama_ ). He looks at him, and all he can see is the tears rolling on his cheeks, the thin line of his mouth. 

He’s ready to jump at him to take the controller out of his hands, just in case he wants to destroy the television screen with it.

But Osamu’s not the violent twin (not anymore) (not really).

“Osamu.”

Osamu is clearly having a lot of thoughts, his eyes blank and his expression neutral, but he doesn’t look like he wants to destroy the TV screen. Good.

Atsumu’s eyes go back to the screen, ready to watch Osamu continue.

But suddenly, he stands up, crouches in front of the television and takes the CD out of the PS/4 before hitting the power button. 

He takes the CD in one hand, the game box in the other, puts the CD back in its box, closes it and turns on his heels, looking at Atsumu with wet shiny eyes. 

Osamu then proceeds to walk towards his bookshelf before taking a big red box sitting on one of the shelves. He carefully takes the lid off, puts the game box in it, puts the lid back on, puts the box back on the bookshelf, and nods at Atsumu.

It’s a really weird thing to see, and Atsumu doesn’t know if he wants to laugh or cry with him, because he has watched him play _The Last Of Us_ at least twice, and seeing Joel’s brain being smashed by a golf club makes him feel things, too. Bad things.

He stares at the now black screen, completely at loss of words. His head shots up when he hears a loud scream coming from the bathroom, muffled only by the closed door. 

It’s not a cry. It’s a real, long “Ah” that doesn’t seem to stop, and when Atsumu rushes towards the bathroom, he finds his twin brother gripping the sink with both his hands, screaming at his reflection, his shoulders shaking and his entire face wet with tears.

Their eyes meet in the mirror and Atsumu sighs before coming to stand next to him.

He starts screaming too.

.

> **From** : Keiji
> 
> _I just finished._

The text comes four days later.

They had decided to not talk about the game until they finished playing to avoid spoiling anything.

> **From** : Keiji
> 
> _I’m waiting for your call._

Osamu stares at the text. 

“What are you going to do?” Atsumu asks with a mocking smile.

“I don’t know.”

.

He ends up calling his boyfriend anyway because four days is a long time and he’s missed him.

“What did you think about it?” Akaashi immediately asks when he picks up.

“I don’t know,” he really doesn’t. 

“Mh.”

“You?”

“I stared at my wall a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“I had to take a break after Joel.”

“Yeah.”

“What did you think about Abby?”

“It was interesting,” _interesting_ is a pretty neutral word, right? Akaashi wouldn’t notice.

“And the end? Do you think they should have left the player a choice?”

“No, I think it was fine this way.”

“Lev was a good character.”

“He was.”

“I hate that he killed Abby.”

“Yeah.”

“Ellie should have survived.”

“Yeah.”

“Osamu.”

“Yeah.”

“You haven’t played it, have you?”

“Fuck.”

Akaashi starts laughing on the other side of the phone.

“When did you stop?”

“After Joel’s death.”

“It was _hilarious,_ ” Atsumu intervenes behind him.

“You were crying too.”

Akaashi starts laughing too but he doesn’t say anything else about the game. He’s respectful like that. 

“What were you doing for the past four days, then?”

“I-”

“He played the first one again, Akaashi, can you believe it?” Atsumu shouts.

“You’re impossible,” Akaashi whispers, laughing fondly at his boyfriend.

.

“What’s this?” Akaashi asks when he comes to visit Osamu’s flat in Hyōgo, a few days later. 

The twins are sitting on the couch playing _Fall Guys_ and Atsumu looks at his brother’s boyfriend with a smirk.

“ _It’s_ _Fucking Pandora’s box_ ,” he says like it’s the most obvious thing he’s ever said.

“Hm.” Akaashi hums.

“It’s the box where ‘Samu puts all the things he owns but hates.”

“Oh. I see.” Akaashi eyes the red box.

“You can open it,” Atsumu taunts him.

“No,” Osamu says, tone neutral.

“Open it.”

“Shut up, asshole.”

“Can I?” Akaashi asks him with a serious face. He’s not going to overstep his boundaries, even if Atsumu makes him want to.

“Yeah,” Osamu sighs, shaking his head in disbelief. 

Akaashi carefully opens the box, his eyes immediately landing on the _Last Of Us II_ game. He sneers, puts the box on the table and looks inside again. 

“Is this the 8th season of Game of Thrones?”

“Our mom gifted it to me.”

Atsumu cackles next to him, “I never took the time to look into _Fucking Pandora’s box_ , here, let me see.”

Akaashi rolls his eyes, looking at the mess inside the box where he recognises train tickets that probably carry a heavy story, a CD of _Despacito_ , a Daenerys keychain. He doesn’t have the time to take the small box sitting next to a _fish-_ shaped bottle opener before Atsumu reaches for it. It’s a small grey box. He looks at it with suspicious eyes before opening it.

He gasps.

“ARE THESE MY BABY TEETH?” 

“They’re ugly.”

“You stole my baby teeth.”

“Mom gave them to me.”

“You have my baby teeth in your flat.”

“In the _Fucking Pandora’s box_.”

“How could you?”

“He’s right,” Akaashi smiles wickedly, “they should be on your nightstand for you to look at everyday.”

“I like my beauty sleep, thank you very much,” Osamu grimaces.

“Where are _your_ baby teeth, ‘Samu?”

“At mom and dad’s”

“Why did she give you my teeth and kept yours?”

“Because I’m her favourite son.”

“Go die.”

.

When Osamu puts something in the _Fucking Pandora’s Box_ , it shall never see the light of day ever again. He swore himself that. It’s full of old past relationship memories he doesn’t want to throw away, useless things that he just doesn’t want to dispose of, _just in case._

But a few years later, when Onigiri Miya finally opens its first branch in Tokyo and Akaashi buys his own little house, Osamu comes home to this little house one night and stares at the PS/4 sitting under the television. 

The only thing that can judge him at this time of the day, when Akaashi is still at work, is the small cactus in a yellow pot that’s sitting on the coffee table. It’s Joel’s child, _Sarah_. 

Okay, he’s ready.

 _His_ game will never see the light of day ever again. He’s not breaking any promise if he does _this_ , right?

He crouches in front of the TV and opens the large drawer. It takes him only a few seconds before his hand lands on Akaashi’s own copy of _The Last Of Us II_.

It’s been such a long time that he has to download it on the console again, but that’s fine. He sits, waiting patiently, bracing himself for what is coming.

.

Turns out the game is as phenomenal as Akaashi told him.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/yootasuke).
> 
> I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS.  
> i never know if i write the relationship between atsumu and osamu right since im an only child.  
> i have a lot of feelings about this game. my heart is still broken and i am still grieving because of joel.  
> i personally think the second game was a fucking masterpiece. the way it made me feel things? the way it made me hate, and cry, and resent, and heal? lev? i- i have no words. it was wonderful to play these games.  
> 


End file.
